Target-throwing trap



(No Model.)

W. T. BEST.

TARGET THROWING TRAP.

WITNESSES: l/V VE/VTOH ww 1 l l A TTORIVEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM T. BEST, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TARG ET-TH ROWIN G TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,532, dated November 11, 1890.

Application filed June 25, 1890. Serial No. 356.608. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM .T. Bnsr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Target-Throwing Traps; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective View of my improved trap, showing it in the act of throwing a target or pigeon, Fig. 2, a vertical transverse sectional View through one arm of the targetcarrier; Fig. 2, a perspective view of a nut employed in securing the target-holdin g disk or wheel 0 to the carrier; Fig. 3, a plan view of the rear end of the throwing-arm and its connection to the actuating-spring; Figs. 4t and 5, detail perspective views of other forms of connections between the throwing-arm and the actuating-spring; Fig. 6, a detail plan View of the spring-actuated roller 0 employed to grasp one edge of the target or pigeon, and Fig. 7 a detail view of a portion of the carrier.

This invention has relation to that class of target-throwing traps covered by Letters Patent numbered 407,429,issued July 23, 1889, to myself, wherein a pivoted swinging springactuated arm is employed for the purpose of throwing the targets or pigeons (either clay or metallic) up into the air, a pivoted target-carrier being provided at the end of the arm for imparting to the target (which is usually of a circular form) as it leaves the said carrier at theend of the arm an additional twisting or twirling impulse, as will be more fully hereinafter described.

The present invention has mainly for its object the provision of more effective means for imparting to the target as it leaves the carrier the twisting or twirling impulse necessary to cause it to circulate properly in the air, as will more fully hereinafter be described.

The invention also has for its object the provision of simple means for readily varying the angle of flight at which the targets leave the carrier without changing the position of the trap or tlirowingarm, as will presently appear.

The invention also has other minor objects in view, which will appear in the course of this specification.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings for a detail description of the preferred manner of constructing my invention, the

letter A designates the adjustable supporting standard of the trap; B, a frame adj ustaloly mounted on the standard; D, the throwingarm pivoted upon the forward end of the frame 13, and carrying at its forward end a rigid target holder or carrier E, and C the coil-spring connecting the rear end of the frame B to the rear end of the throwing-arm in a manner hereinafter explained.

The standard, the frame thereon, and the spring are all constructed substantially in accordance with my former patent hereinbefore mentioned, and I do not deem it necessary to further explain them in this description.

A spring-actuated trip I), operated by the pulling-cord D, is pivoted to an arm of the frame B for the purpose of holding the throwing-arm set, the trip or catch being operated by means of the pulling-cord to release the arm at will.

The carrier E is rigidly bolted to the forward end of the throwing-arm, as shown, or it may be formed integral therewith, as the exigencies of the case may suggest. It is preferably T-shaped, and is provided with a hook-shaped stop a at its rear end, an adjustable elastic stop 0' near the end of its right arm, this stop being notched on its inner side for the reception of the edges of the targets, and an adjustable spring-actuated disk or roller 0 near the end of the left arm. This carrier is adapted for throwing both metallic and frangible (clay) targets or birds, and differs from my former carrier in but a few minor details. shaped, with its hook portion directed out wardly, whereby it will accommodate either a The inner stop a" is hookclay or metallic flanged target, and the right cured in its slot in the lateral arm of the carrierby means of averticalbolt d, which passes down through its center and through the slot in the arm and is provided with a nut at its lower end. This bolt passes through an internally-threaded nut d, interposed between the elastic roller and the carrier-arm and provided with a lower enlargement adapted to fit and work loosely in the slot in the arm, and thereby prevent the nut turning. The outer end of the spring-retracted rod 6 is hooked around the bolt between a washer d" and the lower nut and keeps the elastic roller normally drawn inward. The means for connecting it to the carrier, as shown in Fig. 2, enables the elastic roller to be readily adjusted vertically to accommodate different kinds and sizes of targets, the sliding nut d always remaining in the slot in the arm.

By reference to Fig. 6 it will be perceived that the adjustable elastic roller 0 has its periphery formed with a series of clampingscallops or rounded corrugations as, which have their clamping-surfaces at different distances from the pivotal center of the roller, these distances gradually increasing around the roller. These rounded projections are formed on the periphery of the roller, so that any one of them may by simply turning the roller be brought to bear upon the rim or side of the saucershaped target held in the carrier, as is evident. The object in varying the size of these protuberances is to provide for throwing the targets off at different angles with respect to the throwing-arm, or, in other words, for causing the targets to leave the carrier at different points in its path, and thereby project the targets at various angles to the pivotal point of the throwing-arm. It is evident that the greater the protuberance is that is brought to bear upon the target the longer the target will be held before being released and the greater to the right will it be thrown, and the smaller or flatter the projection the sooner the target will be released in the path of the carrier and the more to the left will it be thrown, the reason for this being that the larger projections clamp the target tighter than the smaller ones. Hence by the provision of the various-sized projections the operator at will may vary the direction in which the target is to go.

' I will now describe the most important feature of my inventionnamely, the means for permitting the throwing-arm to give to the targets a twirling or twisting impulse as they leave the carrier at the end of the arm. The rear end of the throwing-arm is pivoted on the forward end of the frame B by a vertical bolt a; also, pivoted to the frame B by the same bolt a. is a plate or short bar F, the rear end of which is connected to the spring 0, its forward portion overlapping the rear end of the throwing-arm and preferably located under the same, although it may be placed on top of the arm with equal advantage and efficiency. The plate F is provided with a curved slot b, through which is passed a bolt or pin 6, carried by the rear end of the throwing-arm. This slot 1) is shown as being formed in the plate F and the bolt 17 carried by the arm; but it is evident that the bolt may be secured to the plate and the slot formed in the arm without departing from the invention in the least. This slotted connection connects the arm and plate together, but at-the same time allows the arm a limited movement tothe right independently of the plate, as is evident.

As an additional means for keeping the arm and platein alignment while setor being set, the former may be provided with a depending pin a, adapted to abut against a forward projection on the plate, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the throwing-arm is drawn around and engaged by the catch D and a target or bird inserted in the carrier, the trap is set ready for an operation. In this position the spring is distended and the bolt 17 at the right-hand end of the slot b. When the arm is released from the catch, the contraction of the springthrows or swings the arm around in a forward direction, as is usual in this class of traps. The arm and plate keep in alignment until they swing around in line with the spring, whereupon the action of the spring ceases and the plate suddenly stops. The arm does not stop immediately, but continues on independently of the plate and spring until the bolt 17 strikes against the opposite end of the slot b, the target being thrown out of the carrier with a twisting or twirling movement. This manner of projecting the targets, as practical tests have demonstrated, has its advantages over the old way of pivotally connecting the carrier to the end of the throwing-arm, in that it insures a freer and steadier throw of the targets and with less breakage to frangible targets. The targets leave the carrier during the independent movement of the arm-that is to say,while the pin 12 is traveling from one end of the slot 1) to the other endthereby preventing the breaking of the frangible targets.

Instead of the form of device shown in Fig. 3, it is evident that the same result may be obtained by the form shown in Fig. 4, wherein the slot b is formed in the plate F in front of the main pivotal bolt a.

In Fig. 5 I show another form, whereby the connecting-plate F may be entirely done away with and the forward end of the spring connected directly to the bolt b, this bolt working in a slot formed in the rear end of the throwing-arm and provided with two nuts I) b, adapted to loosely embrace the arm- It is evident that by this construction the arm may have a limited movement independent of the spring and after the latter has come to rest and impart the same twisting motion to the targets that the other forms described do.

Itis evident that other modifications of my device will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art, and therefore I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the exact construction shown and described.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A target carrier provided with fixed stops and a spring-retracted roller, a Vertical threaded bolt passing through this roller, and a slot in the carrier, a nut d on the said bolt provided with a projection entering the slot in the carrier, and a nut on the end of the bolt, whereby the said roller may be vertically adjusted, substantially as described.

2. A target-carrier provided with a stationary stop or stops and an adjustable clam ping or holding roller having different clamping projections upon its periphery, the clamping-surfaces of said clamping proj ections be ing at different distances from the pivotal center of the roller, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. A target-carrier provided with a stationary stop or stops and a sliding spring-retracted roller having difierent clamping projections upon its periphery, the clampingsurfaces of said clamping projections being at diiferent distances from the pivotal center of the roller, substantially as described.

4:. A holding or clamping roller for targetcarriers having formed upon its periphery different clamping projections, the clampingsurfaces of the said projections being at different distances from the pivotal center of the roller.

5. In a target-throwing trap, the combina tion of a support, a throwing-arm pivoted thereto and provided at its forward end with a target-carrier, a spring, and means for connecting this spring to the rear end of the throwing-arm, the spring and arm having a limited movement independent of each other, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of a support, a targetthrowing arm pivoted thereto, a plate pivoted to the support and throwing-arm buthaving a limited movement independent of said arm, and a spring connected to the rear end of the said plate, whereby when the action of the spring ceases the arm will continue in its movement a short distance before stopping, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. In a target-throwin g trap, the combination of a support, a pivoted throwing-arm, and a retracting-spring carrying a pin Working in a slot in the rear end of the throwing-arm, whereby when the action of the spring ceases the arm will continue in its movement a short distance before stopping, as and for the purposes described.

8. In a target-throwing trap, the combina tion of a support, a pivoted throwing-arm, a pivoted plate overlapping the rear end of this arm, 'a pin carried by one of the overlapping parts and working in a slot in the other, and a retracting-spring connected to the rear end of the said plate, as and for the purposes described.

9. A holding or clamping roller for targetcarriers, constructed of elastic material and having different clamping projections upon its periphery, the clamping-surfaces of the said projections being at different distances from the pivotal center of the roller, substantially as described.

10. A clampingroller for target carriers, having formed on its periphery different clamping project-ions, the clamping-surfaces of these projections being at different distances from the pivotal center of the roller, the said distances increasing gradually around the roller, as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM T. BEST.

Witnesses:

CHAS. D. DAVIS, ALEX. S. STEWART. 

